Personnel File for Lieutenant Junior Grade Gerard Garrett

[Counselor's Office, USS Normandie]
[1400HRS, 22 July 2386 CE]

Garrett had followed Ashshy to his office almost without conscious thought, his focus drifting from Evincrue's gardening project to Konev's OSCE to the Mollais Expanse and what interesting, undescribed things might live there. His mandatory checkup with the Doctor earlier had been irksome for its redundancy, but Garrett had never met Ashshy, and having the good counselor look through his prominent auditory meatuses would only be a minor diversion. Not that the bio lab as yet required a great deal of attention, anyway. Besides, I'm in a good mood. Might as well get the last of these compulsory appointments out of the way. I could even learn something from this guy. I wonder what his blood type is, being a hybrid.

The office's doors hissed aside to allow entry, revealing the neutral interior. "Before we start, sir," Garrett rumbled, "thanks for not putting me on tactical back there. I'm a bit out of practice. Wouldn't want Konev to have to work around a second-rate tac officer as well as pirates."

Eiri chuckled and set the PADD he was carrying down on the low table in the room, the doors hissing shut behind them. "You are very welcome, although I am certain that your performance would have been noteworthy no matter what position you took up. I was not sure how to handle the assignments, so I decided I would just let the participants handle them. I think that the results were satisfactory." He gestured to the couch and chairs. "Please, make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink?"

“Bolian milk would be nice, thank you, sir.” Garrett gently settled into a chair, still watching the slight counselor. The brief time he’d spent in the holodeck with Ashshy hadn’t given him much information to base an evaluation of the man on. Considering the Counselor’s position above him in the chain of command, perhaps that was for the best. Then again, Ashshy wasn’t the only one in the room with curiosity and a love of objectively analyzing life forms. “Must be interesting, being an empath with Vulcan genes,” Garrett tried tactfully.

"You may call me Eiri if you wish." He returned with Garrett's glass of milk and a cup of Vulcan spiced tea for himself. "No need for formalities in sessions like this. I much prefer my guests to be as comfortable as possible." A warm smile greeted Garrett, accompanied by his glass of milk. "And you can say that again, sometimes a little too interesting for my tastes. I am often privy to information I did not need or ask for." The counselor sat himself down on the couch across from Gerard with a soft snort and looked at the man over the lip of his teacup. He had been more then pleased with his performance in the OSCE. Garrett seemed organized and intelligent. Eiri hoped for a scientifically minded equal in the human.

Hungry, Garrett nodded appreciatively at Ashshy and took a long pull of the proteinaceous milk, passing its earthy, complex flavor over his tongue. A hint of the deep creases of his smile traced his cheeks.
"An empath, and a psych professional no less, who says in his own way that his sixth sense about people is often a source of extraneous data. I must admit that's a first for me."

Eiri laughed softly. "It is true though. The Vulcan side of my background enhances my telepathic abilities. Not only to I "feel"," he made air quotes with his fingers, "... what people are feeling, but I often "hear" their surface thoughts as well. Surface thoughts can be useful, but for the most part, they are full of information I personally should not be privy to. Over the years I have learned to concentrate despite the noise of those around me. Do not get me wrong though. It can be useful and it quickly points out liars." He smiled a little wanly. "But enough about me. How do you feel about being here aboard the Normandie?"

Garrett tensed slightly, and then thought better of it. No point getting my drawers in a knot just because he can know as well as I do what I think and feel without me saying anything. Relax and let him observe you, Heisenburg be damned.

“Well, it feels great to make forward progress in life, and that’s exactly what I consider my tenure here. I couldn’t jump fast enough when I got my reassignment orders. It’s a new environment for me, sure, but I’ll integrate as time goes by.”

Eiri nodded, taking a sip of his tea. "That is good to hear a positive outlook. I was also very pleased to be assigned here. My first assignment was at a terra-forming station. Where was your last assignment?" He could, of course, see where Gerard's last assignment was, but he liked to ask. Letting people tell their own stories was always more interesting and more informative.

“They had me teaching at the Academy on Earth, mostly anatomy and physiology for future medical people. I did that for a few years after getting my commission. Eventually, a handful of biologists working this quadrant retired, the higher-ups wanted new people with field experience to fill the gaps, and there I was on the shelf. Got promoted and reassigned out here.” He took another long drink of his lunch. “Were you actually a terra-former or have you been in psychology your whole career?” Wouldn’t that be something? An engineer-psychologist. Next thing you know I’d meet a Marine with an organic chemistry Ph.D.

"Well," Eiri started, stifling a laugh about Marines. "I am a little bit of both. I graduated from Starfleet and the Vulcan Science Academy with majors in psychology and languages and I ended up with degrees in both medical genomics and Terra-forming. Believe it or not I am not very good in social settings, but I am an excellent researcher." He smiled. "How do you feel that you are fitting in with the rest of the crew here?"

"I've met..." --he paused to recall-- "eight other people so far and spent time talking to three, including yourself. I can get along with just about anybody, but as far as my fitting in, I guess you'd have to ask them. Not that I'm trying to dodge the question, of course... it's just that I don't like to talk about things I don't know. My immediate supervisor seems alright, if a bit mystical, and I like what I've seen of the other officers so far, if that helps you figure me out." He smiled.

The light-haired counselor nodded and returned Garrett's smile. "Nothing to worry about. It is an honest answer. I would much prefer that to a lie that everything is wonderful or awful. Sometimes people say they fit into every situation, but the reality is much different. If you did have an issue, who would you confide in? Are you comfortable enough with your superiors, or do you have someone you consider a friend?" He was looking for social connections as well as work connections.

Garrett's expression remained pleasant, yet got slightly more serious. "To be honest, Eiri, the only reason I'm telling you these things about myself is because knowing them is your job and we're here together in a professional context. Nothing personal. I just prefer to have my superiors be my superiors and little more." He lowered his eyes slightly. Offending a fellow sentient life-form would have been mortifying enough, but Ashshy also happened to be the Normandie's second officer. "As far as people I could confide in, I don't know if I have any aboard the Normandie yet. My closest colleagues and all of my family are back in the Alpha Quadrant. I'll probably make a friend or two while I'm stationed here, but as of right now I just play my didgeridoo and read when I'm not working. Give me a few days to grow a social circle and then we'll talk." A note of humor crept back into his voice.

Eiri nodded again. "A reasonable answer, considering. Do you stay in contact with your family? How is that relationship?" He sipped his tea, watching Garrett carefully. He had found over the years that people often lied about this subject more then any other. He often wondered why. Of course he could never lie to his own family. Not when his mother could pry his deepest secrets from his mind. If anything it had taught him honesty, even as forced as it was. She still pried, referred to him as a child, and asked over-personal questions.

Ah, here’s where we talk about my relationship with my mother and so forth. I guess I did start young in my career as a mad scientist. The bright array of Garrett’s teeth flashed. “It’s a pretty long list of people to stay in contact with. I don’t speak with most of them as often as they say they’d like, but they’re absolutely the most important people in my life. Love them all to death, even if I think about half of them don’t understand me and I’m always the little brother.” It was out of character for Garrett to discuss his personal life with his superiors, but he thought it better to help the Counselor do his job by communicating.

Eiri allowed himself a little smile. It was good to hear that someone was comfortable with their family. He relaxed a little, leaning back on the sofa and setting his tea cup on the low table. "And your sleeping? How well do you sleep? When you sleep do you dream?" He made a mental note to study more about the dreaming beliefs of other species. They might just be the firing of neurons in the brain, but there were often telling psychological reasons.

Garrett shrugged. “For the most part, I sleep soundly. Good to let the old prefrontal cortex off-leash… I certainly work it hard enough. Most of my dreams are pretty weird, but pleasurable. Occasionally I have an uncomfortable one about being forced to repeat a stage of my life, like high school, or maybe about a rough day at my first job.” For a fleeting moment, the chilling bite of icy spray and the howl of wind surfaced in Garrett’s consciousness. The diminutive Counselor sat across the room, holding the biologist in his blue eyes, as aware as ever in ways Garrett had not yet fathomed. The larger man leaned forward, elbow on knee, hand on chin, curiosity in his gaze.

“I don’t suppose you can feel the physical sensations I associate with memories? That last one might have been a new experience for you.”

Eiri tipped his head to one side and looked briefly down into the now empty cup of tea. He furrowed his distinctively Vulcan eyebrows and looked up at Garrett again. "It is difficult to explain. I can feel the sensations that memories produce, but it is not so much your sensory perception of the moment in time but how that sensory input made you feel. Does that make any sense? Your last memory was something that caused goosebumps, it was not fear, more like... being alone... somewhere lonely. It is hard to describe or analyze those feelings. Often I do not try unless the feelings associated with the place or event are very strong." He looked into Gerard's hazel eyes hoping to not see confusion there.

"So you wouldn't feel the cold of the storm itself, but you'd know I was feeling distressed at the time. Fair enough." The biologist nodded. "And I daresay feelings often don't lend themselves to easy interpretation even if one is an empathic Vulcanoid." Clinical psychology, Garrett thought, had to be the most inexact branch of biology by far, but it made him glad to know that people like Eiri existed, willing to use their own highly specialized senses to give succor to those in need.

"Feelings manifest in so many different ways and every individual is a new challenge. What might be fear, elevated heart rate, feelings of elation, for one person, could easily be joy in another. Your observation is correct, though. I would not sense the cold of the storm, only how that cold made you feel at the time. He lifted one amused eyebrow. "Vulcanoid? An interesting term and accurate. I often struggle with my heritage, one or the other, but the combination is indeed what I am." He smiled, his eyes sweeping over Gerard slowly. "I think I am comfortable with our session. How do you feel? Do you have any questions or things you would like to discuss further?"

Garrett drained the last of his milk and plunked the empty glass on the table between himself and the Counselor, clearing his throat. “Nothing really springs to mind, so if you’ve got no further questions, neither do I, sir. I’ll come to chat with you again if I need to. Though I do feel better having a professional confirm I’m not about to start chasing my crewmates with a batlef.” He grinned. That might not have been his most interesting appointment of the week, but hell, interesting would have been bad in this case. Have to wait on figuring out his blood type, though… who knows what sort of interesting antigens he’s got waiting for an agglutination.

Eiri laughed, in spite of himself. "If you would like a blood sample I would be more then happy to volunteer one for you." He smiled at Gerard and stood. "I hope you do come back, feel free, anytime... even if there is nothing wrong. Sometimes it is best to return when things are going well. It helps us develop a working relationship, so that if anything does go wrong in the future we will not have problems communicating. I enjoyed our discussion today. Thank you for coming by." He chuckled again. "... would you like me to follow you to your lab so that you may take a blood sample?" His offer seemed sincere.

Garrett's eyes lit up at the thought of new questions, new knowledge, and the willing assistance of the Counselor to reach them. In his experience, the most interesting members of the Eukarya had typically required sedation or restraint before becoming agreeable enough to share their tissues with science. "Only if you're sure you wouldn't mind getting analyzed yourself, sir. I'm no physician, but I'd still love to have a look at your antigens and respiration and such. I'll sleep better tonight if I feed the curiosity beast."

"Of course, and that I can completely understand. I am also a scientist at heart." Eiri stood up from his seat and smiled a little. "I do not have another appointment for an hour. I think that should be enough time for you to collect whatever samples you want from me." He picked up his PADD and waited for Gerard to lead the way. "Although, I would like to ask one thing of you." He lifted his eyebrows, expressing his interest with his expression. "Will you please share your findings with me? I am immensely curious about what you will find. I can also give you a little bit of history and background, if you like. I know that my parents we concerned when I was born, because of my coloring, that I would develop problems with my sight and hearing, which is common amongst pale-skinned Vulcans. They did not dare to have another child."

"Sure, I'll share my data. I do that as a career. And it's right kind of you to share tissue, not to mention your background, so thank you, sir. I promise not to stick you too much." Garrett walked to the door, looking back to ensure the Counselor was in tow. "I've heard that bit about lighter-toned Vulcans developing auditory and optical problems. You're probably more up on the research than I, but it's caused by wacky pigment distribution in the retina and deficient copper metabolism in the hair cells of the inner ear. My best guess is that your Betazoid genes might be covering for you. We'll see." He paused for a moment, rounding a corner en route to a turbolift and glancing sidelong at Ashshy's silvery locks. "Interesting biology aside, I'm sure there's a happy story there somewhere about a Vulcan and a Betazoid finding they had enough in common to have offspring."

[Counselor's Office, USS Normandie]
[1400HRS, 22 July 2386 CE]

Garrett had followed Ashshy to his office almost without conscious thought, his focus drifting from Evincrue's gardening project to Konev's OSCE to the Mollais Expanse and what interesting, undescribed things might live there. His mandatory checkup with the Doctor earlier had been irksome for its redundancy, but Garrett had never met Ashshy, and having the good counselor look through his prominent auditory meatuses would only be a minor diversion. Not that the bio lab as yet required a great deal of attention, anyway. Besides, I'm in a good mood. Might as well get the last of these compulsory appointments out of the way. I could even learn something from this guy. I wonder what his blood type is, being a hybrid.

The office's doors hissed aside to allow entry, revealing the neutral interior. "Before we start, sir," Garrett rumbled, "thanks for not putting me on tactical back there. I'm a bit out of practice. Wouldn't want Konev to have to work around a second-rate tac officer as well as pirates."

Eiri chuckled and set the PADD he was carrying down on the low table in the room, the doors hissing shut behind them. "You are very welcome, although I am certain that your performance would have been noteworthy no matter what position you took up. I was not sure how to handle the assignments, so I decided I would just let the participants handle them. I think that the results were satisfactory." He gestured to the couch and chairs. "Please, make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink?"

“Bolian milk would be nice, thank you, sir.” Garrett gently settled into a chair, still watching the slight counselor. The brief time he’d spent in the holodeck with Ashshy hadn’t given him much information to base an evaluation of the man on. Considering the Counselor’s position above him in the chain of command, perhaps that was for the best. Then again, Ashshy wasn’t the only one in the room with curiosity and a love of objectively analyzing life forms. “Must be interesting, being an empath with Vulcan genes,” Garrett tried tactfully.

"You may call me Eiri if you wish." He returned with Garrett's glass of milk and a cup of Vulcan spiced tea for himself. "No need for formalities in sessions like this. I much prefer my guests to be as comfortable as possible." A warm smile greeted Garrett, accompanied by his glass of milk. "And you can say that again, sometimes a little too interesting for my tastes. I am often privy to information I did not need or ask for." The counselor sat himself down on the couch across from Gerard with a soft snort and looked at the man over the lip of his teacup. He had been more then pleased with his performance in the OSCE. Garrett seemed organized and intelligent. Eiri hoped for a scientifically minded equal in the human.

Hungry, Garrett nodded appreciatively at Ashshy and took a long pull of the proteinaceous milk, passing its earthy, complex flavor over his tongue. A hint of the deep creases of his smile traced his cheeks.
"An empath, and a psych professional no less, who says in his own way that his sixth sense about people is often a source of extraneous data. I must admit that's a first for me."

Eiri laughed softly. "It is true though. The Vulcan side of my background enhances my telepathic abilities. Not only to I "feel"," he made air quotes with his fingers, "... what people are feeling, but I often "hear" their surface thoughts as well. Surface thoughts can be useful, but for the most part, they are full of information I personally should not be privy to. Over the years I have learned to concentrate despite the noise of those around me. Do not get me wrong though. It can be useful and it quickly points out liars." He smiled a little wanly. "But enough about me. How do you feel about being here aboard the Normandie?"

Garrett tensed slightly, and then thought better of it. No point getting my drawers in a knot just because he can know as well as I do what I think and feel without me saying anything. Relax and let him observe you, Heisenburg be damned.

“Well, it feels great to make forward progress in life, and that’s exactly what I consider my tenure here. I couldn’t jump fast enough when I got my reassignment orders. It’s a new environment for me, sure, but I’ll integrate as time goes by.”

Eiri nodded, taking a sip of his tea. "That is good to hear a positive outlook. I was also very pleased to be assigned here. My first assignment was at a terra-forming station. Where was your last assignment?" He could, of course, see where Gerard's last assignment was, but he liked to ask. Letting people tell their own stories was always more interesting and more informative.

“They had me teaching at the Academy on Earth, mostly anatomy and physiology for future medical people. I did that for a few years after getting my commission. Eventually, a handful of biologists working this quadrant retired, the higher-ups wanted new people with field experience to fill the gaps, and there I was on the shelf. Got promoted and reassigned out here.” He took another long drink of his lunch. “Were you actually a terra-former or have you been in psychology your whole career?” Wouldn’t that be something? An engineer-psychologist. Next thing you know I’d meet a Marine with an organic chemistry Ph.D.

"Well," Eiri started, stifling a laugh about Marines. "I am a little bit of both. I graduated from Starfleet and the Vulcan Science Academy with majors in psychology and languages and I ended up with degrees in both medical genomics and Terra-forming. Believe it or not I am not very good in social settings, but I am an excellent researcher." He smiled. "How do you feel that you are fitting in with the rest of the crew here?"

"I've met..." --he paused to recall-- "eight other people so far and spent time talking to three, including yourself. I can get along with just about anybody, but as far as my fitting in, I guess you'd have to ask them. Not that I'm trying to dodge the question, of course... it's just that I don't like to talk about things I don't know. My immediate supervisor seems alright, if a bit mystical, and I like what I've seen of the other officers so far, if that helps you figure me out." He smiled.

The light-haired counselor nodded and returned Garrett's smile. "Nothing to worry about. It is an honest answer. I would much prefer that to a lie that everything is wonderful or awful. Sometimes people say they fit into every situation, but the reality is much different. If you did have an issue, who would you confide in? Are you comfortable enough with your superiors, or do you have someone you consider a friend?" He was looking for social connections as well as work connections.

Garrett's expression remained pleasant, yet got slightly more serious. "To be honest, Eiri, the only reason I'm telling you these things about myself is because knowing them is your job and we're here together in a professional context. Nothing personal. I just prefer to have my superiors be my superiors and little more." He lowered his eyes slightly. Offending a fellow sentient life-form would have been mortifying enough, but Ashshy also happened to be the Normandie's second officer. "As far as people I could confide in, I don't know if I have any aboard the Normandie yet. My closest colleagues and all of my family are back in the Alpha Quadrant. I'll probably make a friend or two while I'm stationed here, but as of right now I just play my didgeridoo and read when I'm not working. Give me a few days to grow a social circle and then we'll talk." A note of humor crept back into his voice.

Eiri nodded again. "A reasonable answer, considering. Do you stay in contact with your family? How is that relationship?" He sipped his tea, watching Garrett carefully. He had found over the years that people often lied about this subject more then any other. He often wondered why. Of course he could never lie to his own family. Not when his mother could pry his deepest secrets from his mind. If anything it had taught him honesty, even as forced as it was. She still pried, referred to him as a child, and asked over-personal questions.

Ah, here’s where we talk about my relationship with my mother and so forth. I guess I did start young in my career as a mad scientist. The bright array of Garrett’s teeth flashed. “It’s a pretty long list of people to stay in contact with. I don’t speak with most of them as often as they say they’d like, but they’re absolutely the most important people in my life. Love them all to death, even if I think about half of them don’t understand me and I’m always the little brother.” It was out of character for Garrett to discuss his personal life with his superiors, but he thought it better to help the Counselor do his job by communicating.

Eiri allowed himself a little smile. It was good to hear that someone was comfortable with their family. He relaxed a little, leaning back on the sofa and setting his tea cup on the low table. "And your sleeping? How well do you sleep? When you sleep do you dream?" He made a mental note to study more about the dreaming beliefs of other species. They might just be the firing of neurons in the brain, but there were often telling psychological reasons.

Garrett shrugged. “For the most part, I sleep soundly. Good to let the old prefrontal cortex off-leash… I certainly work it hard enough. Most of my dreams are pretty weird, but pleasurable. Occasionally I have an uncomfortable one about being forced to repeat a stage of my life, like high school, or maybe about a rough day at my first job.” For a fleeting moment, the chilling bite of icy spray and the howl of wind surfaced in Garrett’s consciousness. The diminutive Counselor sat across the room, holding the biologist in his blue eyes, as aware as ever in ways Garrett had not yet fathomed. The larger man leaned forward, elbow on knee, hand on chin, curiosity in his gaze.

“I don’t suppose you can feel the physical sensations I associate with memories? That last one might have been a new experience for you.”

Eiri tipped his head to one side and looked briefly down into the now empty cup of tea. He furrowed his distinctively Vulcan eyebrows and looked up at Garrett again. "It is difficult to explain. I can feel the sensations that memories produce, but it is not so much your sensory perception of the moment in time but how that sensory input made you feel. Does that make any sense? Your last memory was something that caused goosebumps, it was not fear, more like... being alone... somewhere lonely. It is hard to describe or analyze those feelings. Often I do not try unless the feelings associated with the place or event are very strong." He looked into Gerard's hazel eyes hoping to not see confusion there.

"So you wouldn't feel the cold of the storm itself, but you'd know I was feeling distressed at the time. Fair enough." The biologist nodded. "And I daresay feelings often don't lend themselves to easy interpretation even if one is an empathic Vulcanoid." Clinical psychology, Garrett thought, had to be the most inexact branch of biology by far, but it made him glad to know that people like Eiri existed, willing to use their own highly specialized senses to give succor to those in need.

"Feelings manifest in so many different ways and every individual is a new challenge. What might be fear, elevated heart rate, feelings of elation, for one person, could easily be joy in another. Your observation is correct, though. I would not sense the cold of the storm, only how that cold made you feel at the time. He lifted one amused eyebrow. "Vulcanoid? An interesting term and accurate. I often struggle with my heritage, one or the other, but the combination is indeed what I am." He smiled, his eyes sweeping over Gerard slowly. "I think I am comfortable with our session. How do you feel? Do you have any questions or things you would like to discuss further?"

Garrett drained the last of his milk and plunked the empty glass on the table between himself and the Counselor, clearing his throat. “Nothing really springs to mind, so if you’ve got no further questions, neither do I, sir. I’ll come to chat with you again if I need to. Though I do feel better having a professional confirm I’m not about to start chasing my crewmates with a batlef.” He grinned. That might not have been his most interesting appointment of the week, but hell, interesting would have been bad in this case. Have to wait on figuring out his blood type, though… who knows what sort of interesting antigens he’s got waiting for an agglutination.

Eiri laughed, in spite of himself. "If you would like a blood sample I would be more then happy to volunteer one for you." He smiled at Gerard and stood. "I hope you do come back, feel free, anytime... even if there is nothing wrong. Sometimes it is best to return when things are going well. It helps us develop a working relationship, so that if anything does go wrong in the future we will not have problems communicating. I enjoyed our discussion today. Thank you for coming by." He chuckled again. "... would you like me to follow you to your lab so that you may take a blood sample?" His offer seemed sincere.

Garrett's eyes lit up at the thought of new questions, new knowledge, and the willing assistance of the Counselor to reach them. In his experience, the most interesting members of the Eukarya had typically required sedation or restraint before becoming agreeable enough to share their tissues with science. "Only if you're sure you wouldn't mind getting analyzed yourself, sir. I'm no physician, but I'd still love to have a look at your antigens and respiration and such. I'll sleep better tonight if I feed the curiosity beast."

"Of course, and that I can completely understand. I am also a scientist at heart." Eiri stood up from his seat and smiled a little. "I do not have another appointment for an hour. I think that should be enough time for you to collect whatever samples you want from me." He picked up his PADD and waited for Gerard to lead the way. "Although, I would like to ask one thing of you." He lifted his eyebrows, expressing his interest with his expression. "Will you please share your findings with me? I am immensely curious about what you will find. I can also give you a little bit of history and background, if you like. I know that my parents we concerned when I was born, because of my coloring, that I would develop problems with my sight and hearing, which is common amongst pale-skinned Vulcans. They did not dare to have another child."

"Sure, I'll share my data. I do that as a career. And it's right kind of you to share tissue, not to mention your background, so thank you, sir. I promise not to stick you too much." Garrett walked to the door, looking back to ensure the Counselor was in tow. "I've heard that bit about lighter-toned Vulcans developing auditory and optical problems. You're probably more up on the research than I, but it's caused by wacky pigment distribution in the retina and deficient copper metabolism in the hair cells of the inner ear. My best guess is that your Betazoid genes might be covering for you. We'll see." He paused for a moment, rounding a corner en route to a turbolift and glancing sidelong at Ashshy's silvery locks. "Interesting biology aside, I'm sure there's a happy story there somewhere about a Vulcan and a Betazoid finding they had enough in common to have offspring."

Eiri did indeed follow along and nodded in agreement to Gerard's assessments. "I agree that the Betazoid genes more then likely kept me from some of the more severe defects." At the mention of his parents a little bit of a flush rose in the pale skinned Counselor's cheeks. "They are amazingly happy. Well, my mother is happy. My father is staunchly Vulcan." He chuckled softly. "He is impassive much of the time. It was something he really wanted me to do as well, but I am just too sensitive. Even if I had participated in the Kolinar, it is likely that it would not have been successful. I feel too much of what everyone else feels and it took me years just to be able to master dealing with the influx of other's emotions that I'm not sure I could purge them and maintain that level of logical thinking. If that makes any sense." He smiled at Gerard and stepped onto the turbolift.

[Counselor's Office, USS Normandie]
[1400HRS, 22 July 2386 CE]

Garrett had followed Ashshy to his office almost without conscious thought, his focus drifting from Evincrue's gardening project to Konev's OSCE to the Mollais Expanse and what interesting, undescribed things might live there. His mandatory checkup with the Doctor earlier had been irksome for its redundancy, but Garrett had never met Ashshy, and having the good counselor look through his prominent auditory meatuses would only be a minor diversion. Not that the bio lab as yet required a great deal of attention, anyway. Besides, I'm in a good mood. Might as well get the last of these compulsory appointments out of the way. I could even learn something from this guy. I wonder what his blood type is, being a hybrid.

The office's doors hissed aside to allow entry, revealing the neutral interior. "Before we start, sir," Garrett rumbled, "thanks for not putting me on tactical back there. I'm a bit out of practice. Wouldn't want Konev to have to work around a second-rate tac officer as well as pirates."

Eiri chuckled and set the PADD he was carrying down on the low table in the room, the doors hissing shut behind them. "You are very welcome, although I am certain that your performance would have been noteworthy no matter what position you took up. I was not sure how to handle the assignments, so I decided I would just let the participants handle them. I think that the results were satisfactory." He gestured to the couch and chairs. "Please, make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink?"

“Bolian milk would be nice, thank you, sir.” Garrett gently settled into a chair, still watching the slight counselor. The brief time he’d spent in the holodeck with Ashshy hadn’t given him much information to base an evaluation of the man on. Considering the Counselor’s position above him in the chain of command, perhaps that was for the best. Then again, Ashshy wasn’t the only one in the room with curiosity and a love of objectively analyzing life forms. “Must be interesting, being an empath with Vulcan genes,” Garrett tried tactfully.

"You may call me Eiri if you wish." He returned with Garrett's glass of milk and a cup of Vulcan spiced tea for himself. "No need for formalities in sessions like this. I much prefer my guests to be as comfortable as possible." A warm smile greeted Garrett, accompanied by his glass of milk. "And you can say that again, sometimes a little too interesting for my tastes. I am often privy to information I did not need or ask for." The counselor sat himself down on the couch across from Gerard with a soft snort and looked at the man over the lip of his teacup. He had been more then pleased with his performance in the OSCE. Garrett seemed organized and intelligent. Eiri hoped for a scientifically minded equal in the human.

Hungry, Garrett nodded appreciatively at Ashshy and took a long pull of the proteinaceous milk, passing its earthy, complex flavor over his tongue. A hint of the deep creases of his smile traced his cheeks.
"An empath, and a psych professional no less, who says in his own way that his sixth sense about people is often a source of extraneous data. I must admit that's a first for me."

Eiri laughed softly. "It is true though. The Vulcan side of my background enhances my telepathic abilities. Not only to I "feel"," he made air quotes with his fingers, "... what people are feeling, but I often "hear" their surface thoughts as well. Surface thoughts can be useful, but for the most part, they are full of information I personally should not be privy to. Over the years I have learned to concentrate despite the noise of those around me. Do not get me wrong though. It can be useful and it quickly points out liars." He smiled a little wanly. "But enough about me. How do you feel about being here aboard the Normandie?"

Garrett tensed slightly, and then thought better of it. No point getting my drawers in a knot just because he can know as well as I do what I think and feel without me saying anything. Relax and let him observe you, Heisenburg be damned.

“Well, it feels great to make forward progress in life, and that’s exactly what I consider my tenure here. I couldn’t jump fast enough when I got my reassignment orders. It’s a new environment for me, sure, but I’ll integrate as time goes by.”

Eiri nodded, taking a sip of his tea. "That is good to hear a positive outlook. I was also very pleased to be assigned here. My first assignment was at a terra-forming station. Where was your last assignment?" He could, of course, see where Gerard's last assignment was, but he liked to ask. Letting people tell their own stories was always more interesting and more informative.

“They had me teaching at the Academy on Earth, mostly anatomy and physiology for future medical people. I did that for a few years after getting my commission. Eventually, a handful of biologists working this quadrant retired, the higher-ups wanted new people with field experience to fill the gaps, and there I was on the shelf. Got promoted and reassigned out here.” He took another long drink of his lunch. “Were you actually a terra-former or have you been in psychology your whole career?” Wouldn’t that be something? An engineer-psychologist. Next thing you know I’d meet a Marine with an organic chemistry Ph.D.

"Well," Eiri started, stifling a laugh about Marines. "I am a little bit of both. I graduated from Starfleet and the Vulcan Science Academy with majors in psychology and languages and I ended up with degrees in both medical genomics and Terra-forming. Believe it or not I am not very good in social settings, but I am an excellent researcher." He smiled. "How do you feel that you are fitting in with the rest of the crew here?"

"I've met..." --he paused to recall-- "eight other people so far and spent time talking to three, including yourself. I can get along with just about anybody, but as far as my fitting in, I guess you'd have to ask them. Not that I'm trying to dodge the question, of course... it's just that I don't like to talk about things I don't know. My immediate supervisor seems alright, if a bit mystical, and I like what I've seen of the other officers so far, if that helps you figure me out." He smiled.

The light-haired counselor nodded and returned Garrett's smile. "Nothing to worry about. It is an honest answer. I would much prefer that to a lie that everything is wonderful or awful. Sometimes people say they fit into every situation, but the reality is much different. If you did have an issue, who would you confide in? Are you comfortable enough with your superiors, or do you have someone you consider a friend?" He was looking for social connections as well as work connections.

Garrett's expression remained pleasant, yet got slightly more serious. "To be honest, Eiri, the only reason I'm telling you these things about myself is because knowing them is your job and we're here together in a professional context. Nothing personal. I just prefer to have my superiors be my superiors and little more." He lowered his eyes slightly. Offending a fellow sentient life-form would have been mortifying enough, but Ashshy also happened to be the Normandie's second officer. "As far as people I could confide in, I don't know if I have any aboard the Normandie yet. My closest colleagues and all of my family are back in the Alpha Quadrant. I'll probably make a friend or two while I'm stationed here, but as of right now I just play my didgeridoo and read when I'm not working. Give me a few days to grow a social circle and then we'll talk." A note of humor crept back into his voice.

Eiri nodded again. "A reasonable answer, considering. Do you stay in contact with your family? How is that relationship?" He sipped his tea, watching Garrett carefully. He had found over the years that people often lied about this subject more then any other. He often wondered why. Of course he could never lie to his own family. Not when his mother could pry his deepest secrets from his mind. If anything it had taught him honesty, even as forced as it was. She still pried, referred to him as a child, and asked over-personal questions.

Ah, here’s where we talk about my relationship with my mother and so forth. I guess I did start young in my career as a mad scientist. The bright array of Garrett’s teeth flashed. “It’s a pretty long list of people to stay in contact with. I don’t speak with most of them as often as they say they’d like, but they’re absolutely the most important people in my life. Love them all to death, even if I think about half of them don’t understand me and I’m always the little brother.” It was out of character for Garrett to discuss his personal life with his superiors, but he thought it better to help the Counselor do his job by communicating.

Eiri allowed himself a little smile. It was good to hear that someone was comfortable with their family. He relaxed a little, leaning back on the sofa and setting his tea cup on the low table. "And your sleeping? How well do you sleep? When you sleep do you dream?" He made a mental note to study more about the dreaming beliefs of other species. They might just be the firing of neurons in the brain, but there were often telling psychological reasons.

Garrett shrugged. “For the most part, I sleep soundly. Good to let the old prefrontal cortex off-leash… I certainly work it hard enough. Most of my dreams are pretty weird, but pleasurable. Occasionally I have an uncomfortable one about being forced to repeat a stage of my life, like high school, or maybe about a rough day at my first job.” For a fleeting moment, the chilling bite of icy spray and the howl of wind surfaced in Garrett’s consciousness. The diminutive Counselor sat across the room, holding the biologist in his blue eyes, as aware as ever in ways Garrett had not yet fathomed. The larger man leaned forward, elbow on knee, hand on chin, curiosity in his gaze.

“I don’t suppose you can feel the physical sensations I associate with memories? That last one might have been a new experience for you.”

Eiri tipped his head to one side and looked briefly down into the now empty cup of tea. He furrowed his distinctively Vulcan eyebrows and looked up at Garrett again. "It is difficult to explain. I can feel the sensations that memories produce, but it is not so much your sensory perception of the moment in time but how that sensory input made you feel. Does that make any sense? Your last memory was something that caused goosebumps, it was not fear, more like... being alone... somewhere lonely. It is hard to describe or analyze those feelings. Often I do not try unless the feelings associated with the place or event are very strong." He looked into Gerard's hazel eyes hoping to not see confusion there.

"So you wouldn't feel the cold of the storm itself, but you'd know I was feeling distressed at the time. Fair enough." The biologist nodded. "And I daresay feelings often don't lend themselves to easy interpretation even if one is an empathic Vulcanoid." Clinical psychology, Garrett thought, had to be the most inexact branch of biology by far, but it made him glad to know that people like Eiri existed, willing to use their own highly specialized senses to give succor to those in need.

"Feelings manifest in so many different ways and every individual is a new challenge. What might be fear, elevated heart rate, feelings of elation, for one person, could easily be joy in another. Your observation is correct, though. I would not sense the cold of the storm, only how that cold made you feel at the time. He lifted one amused eyebrow. "Vulcanoid? An interesting term and accurate. I often struggle with my heritage, one or the other, but the combination is indeed what I am." He smiled, his eyes sweeping over Gerard slowly. "I think I am comfortable with our session. How do you feel? Do you have any questions or things you would like to discuss further?"

Garrett drained the last of his milk and plunked the empty glass on the table between himself and the Counselor, clearing his throat. “Nothing really springs to mind, so if you’ve got no further questions, neither do I, sir. I’ll come to chat with you again if I need to. Though I do feel better having a professional confirm I’m not about to start chasing my crewmates with a batlef.” He grinned. That might not have been his most interesting appointment of the week, but hell, interesting would have been bad in this case. Have to wait on figuring out his blood type, though… who knows what sort of interesting antigens he’s got waiting for an agglutination.

Eiri laughed, in spite of himself. "If you would like a blood sample I would be more then happy to volunteer one for you." He smiled at Gerard and stood. "I hope you do come back, feel free, anytime... even if there is nothing wrong. Sometimes it is best to return when things are going well. It helps us develop a working relationship, so that if anything does go wrong in the future we will not have problems communicating. I enjoyed our discussion today. Thank you for coming by." He chuckled again. "... would you like me to follow you to your lab so that you may take a blood sample?" His offer seemed sincere.

Garrett's eyes lit up at the thought of new questions, new knowledge, and the willing assistance of the Counselor to reach them. In his experience, the most interesting members of the Eukarya had typically required sedation or restraint before becoming agreeable enough to share their tissues with science. "Only if you're sure you wouldn't mind getting analyzed yourself, sir. I'm no physician, but I'd still love to have a look at your antigens and respiration and such. I'll sleep better tonight if I feed the curiosity beast."

"Of course, and that I can completely understand. I am also a scientist at heart." Eiri stood up from his seat and smiled a little. "I do not have another appointment for an hour. I think that should be enough time for you to collect whatever samples you want from me." He picked up his PADD and waited for Gerard to lead the way. "Although, I would like to ask one thing of you." He lifted his eyebrows, expressing his interest with his expression. "Will you please share your findings with me? I am immensely curious about what you will find. I can also give you a little bit of history and background, if you like. I know that my parents we concerned when I was born, because of my coloring, that I would develop problems with my sight and hearing, which is common amongst pale-skinned Vulcans. They did not dare to have another child."

"Sure, I'll share my data. I do that as a career. And it's right kind of you to share tissue, not to mention your background, so thank you, sir. I promise not to stick you too much." Garrett walked to the door, looking back to ensure the Counselor was in tow. "I've heard that bit about lighter-toned Vulcans developing auditory and optical problems. You're probably more up on the research than I, but it's caused by wacky pigment distribution in the retina and deficient copper metabolism in the hair cells of the inner ear. My best guess is that your Betazoid genes might be covering for you. We'll see." He paused for a moment, rounding a corner en route to a turbolift and glancing sidelong at Ashshy's silvery locks. "Interesting biology aside, I'm sure there's a happy story there somewhere about a Vulcan and a Betazoid finding they had enough in common to have offspring."

Eiri did indeed follow along and nodded in agreement to Gerard's assessments. "I agree that the Betazoid genes more then likely kept me from some of the more severe defects." At the mention of his parents a little bit of a flush rose in the pale skinned Counselor's cheeks. "They are amazingly happy. Well, my mother is happy. My father is staunchly Vulcan." He chuckled softly. "He is impassive much of the time. It was something he really wanted me to do as well, but I am just too sensitive. Even if I had participated in the Kolinar, it is likely that it would not have been successful. I feel too much of what everyone else feels and it took me years just to be able to master dealing with the influx of other's emotions that I'm not sure I could purge them and maintain that level of logical thinking. If that makes any sense." He smiled at Gerard and stepped onto the turbolift.

“You certainly don’t seem like a typical post-Kolinar, emotionally-neutered Vulcan. Some of the better scientists I’ve ever read or met have been Vulcans, but I think a lot of the fun in this business comes from being humbled and awed at how little we know, and the excitement when you find something new. I couldn’t be a scientist if I weren’t passionate about my work, and speaking as a human, I wager you wouldn’t be as good a counselor if you weren’t passionate about yours. The Kolinar would have taken that.”

The turbolift halted on deck 5, home of the hard sciences and their laboratories. “After you, sir,” Garrett gestured. “Lab 2, if you please.”

[Counselor's Office, USS Normandie]
[1400HRS, 22 July 2386 CE]

Garrett had followed Ashshy to his office almost without conscious thought, his focus drifting from Evincrue's gardening project to Konev's OSCE to the Mollais Expanse and what interesting, undescribed things might live there. His mandatory checkup with the Doctor earlier had been irksome for its redundancy, but Garrett had never met Ashshy, and having the good counselor look through his prominent auditory meatuses would only be a minor diversion. Not that the bio lab as yet required a great deal of attention, anyway. Besides, I'm in a good mood. Might as well get the last of these compulsory appointments out of the way. I could even learn something from this guy. I wonder what his blood type is, being a hybrid.

The office's doors hissed aside to allow entry, revealing the neutral interior. "Before we start, sir," Garrett rumbled, "thanks for not putting me on tactical back there. I'm a bit out of practice. Wouldn't want Konev to have to work around a second-rate tac officer as well as pirates."

Eiri chuckled and set the PADD he was carrying down on the low table in the room, the doors hissing shut behind them. "You are very welcome, although I am certain that your performance would have been noteworthy no matter what position you took up. I was not sure how to handle the assignments, so I decided I would just let the participants handle them. I think that the results were satisfactory." He gestured to the couch and chairs. "Please, make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink?"

“Bolian milk would be nice, thank you, sir.” Garrett gently settled into a chair, still watching the slight counselor. The brief time he’d spent in the holodeck with Ashshy hadn’t given him much information to base an evaluation of the man on. Considering the Counselor’s position above him in the chain of command, perhaps that was for the best. Then again, Ashshy wasn’t the only one in the room with curiosity and a love of objectively analyzing life forms. “Must be interesting, being an empath with Vulcan genes,” Garrett tried tactfully.

"You may call me Eiri if you wish." He returned with Garrett's glass of milk and a cup of Vulcan spiced tea for himself. "No need for formalities in sessions like this. I much prefer my guests to be as comfortable as possible." A warm smile greeted Garrett, accompanied by his glass of milk. "And you can say that again, sometimes a little too interesting for my tastes. I am often privy to information I did not need or ask for." The counselor sat himself down on the couch across from Gerard with a soft snort and looked at the man over the lip of his teacup. He had been more then pleased with his performance in the OSCE. Garrett seemed organized and intelligent. Eiri hoped for a scientifically minded equal in the human.

Hungry, Garrett nodded appreciatively at Ashshy and took a long pull of the proteinaceous milk, passing its earthy, complex flavor over his tongue. A hint of the deep creases of his smile traced his cheeks.
"An empath, and a psych professional no less, who says in his own way that his sixth sense about people is often a source of extraneous data. I must admit that's a first for me."

Eiri laughed softly. "It is true though. The Vulcan side of my background enhances my telepathic abilities. Not only to I "feel"," he made air quotes with his fingers, "... what people are feeling, but I often "hear" their surface thoughts as well. Surface thoughts can be useful, but for the most part, they are full of information I personally should not be privy to. Over the years I have learned to concentrate despite the noise of those around me. Do not get me wrong though. It can be useful and it quickly points out liars." He smiled a little wanly. "But enough about me. How do you feel about being here aboard the Normandie?"

Garrett tensed slightly, and then thought better of it. No point getting my drawers in a knot just because he can know as well as I do what I think and feel without me saying anything. Relax and let him observe you, Heisenburg be damned.

“Well, it feels great to make forward progress in life, and that’s exactly what I consider my tenure here. I couldn’t jump fast enough when I got my reassignment orders. It’s a new environment for me, sure, but I’ll integrate as time goes by.”

Eiri nodded, taking a sip of his tea. "That is good to hear a positive outlook. I was also very pleased to be assigned here. My first assignment was at a terra-forming station. Where was your last assignment?" He could, of course, see where Gerard's last assignment was, but he liked to ask. Letting people tell their own stories was always more interesting and more informative.

“They had me teaching at the Academy on Earth, mostly anatomy and physiology for future medical people. I did that for a few years after getting my commission. Eventually, a handful of biologists working this quadrant retired, the higher-ups wanted new people with field experience to fill the gaps, and there I was on the shelf. Got promoted and reassigned out here.” He took another long drink of his lunch. “Were you actually a terra-former or have you been in psychology your whole career?” Wouldn’t that be something? An engineer-psychologist. Next thing you know I’d meet a Marine with an organic chemistry Ph.D.

"Well," Eiri started, stifling a laugh about Marines. "I am a little bit of both. I graduated from Starfleet and the Vulcan Science Academy with majors in psychology and languages and I ended up with degrees in both medical genomics and Terra-forming. Believe it or not I am not very good in social settings, but I am an excellent researcher." He smiled. "How do you feel that you are fitting in with the rest of the crew here?"

"I've met..." --he paused to recall-- "eight other people so far and spent time talking to three, including yourself. I can get along with just about anybody, but as far as my fitting in, I guess you'd have to ask them. Not that I'm trying to dodge the question, of course... it's just that I don't like to talk about things I don't know. My immediate supervisor seems alright, if a bit mystical, and I like what I've seen of the other officers so far, if that helps you figure me out." He smiled.

The light-haired counselor nodded and returned Garrett's smile. "Nothing to worry about. It is an honest answer. I would much prefer that to a lie that everything is wonderful or awful. Sometimes people say they fit into every situation, but the reality is much different. If you did have an issue, who would you confide in? Are you comfortable enough with your superiors, or do you have someone you consider a friend?" He was looking for social connections as well as work connections.

Garrett's expression remained pleasant, yet got slightly more serious. "To be honest, Eiri, the only reason I'm telling you these things about myself is because knowing them is your job and we're here together in a professional context. Nothing personal. I just prefer to have my superiors be my superiors and little more." He lowered his eyes slightly. Offending a fellow sentient life-form would have been mortifying enough, but Ashshy also happened to be the Normandie's second officer. "As far as people I could confide in, I don't know if I have any aboard the Normandie yet. My closest colleagues and all of my family are back in the Alpha Quadrant. I'll probably make a friend or two while I'm stationed here, but as of right now I just play my didgeridoo and read when I'm not working. Give me a few days to grow a social circle and then we'll talk." A note of humor crept back into his voice.

Eiri nodded again. "A reasonable answer, considering. Do you stay in contact with your family? How is that relationship?" He sipped his tea, watching Garrett carefully. He had found over the years that people often lied about this subject more then any other. He often wondered why. Of course he could never lie to his own family. Not when his mother could pry his deepest secrets from his mind. If anything it had taught him honesty, even as forced as it was. She still pried, referred to him as a child, and asked over-personal questions.

Ah, here’s where we talk about my relationship with my mother and so forth. I guess I did start young in my career as a mad scientist. The bright array of Garrett’s teeth flashed. “It’s a pretty long list of people to stay in contact with. I don’t speak with most of them as often as they say they’d like, but they’re absolutely the most important people in my life. Love them all to death, even if I think about half of them don’t understand me and I’m always the little brother.” It was out of character for Garrett to discuss his personal life with his superiors, but he thought it better to help the Counselor do his job by communicating.

Eiri allowed himself a little smile. It was good to hear that someone was comfortable with their family. He relaxed a little, leaning back on the sofa and setting his tea cup on the low table. "And your sleeping? How well do you sleep? When you sleep do you dream?" He made a mental note to study more about the dreaming beliefs of other species. They might just be the firing of neurons in the brain, but there were often telling psychological reasons.

Garrett shrugged. “For the most part, I sleep soundly. Good to let the old prefrontal cortex off-leash… I certainly work it hard enough. Most of my dreams are pretty weird, but pleasurable. Occasionally I have an uncomfortable one about being forced to repeat a stage of my life, like high school, or maybe about a rough day at my first job.” For a fleeting moment, the chilling bite of icy spray and the howl of wind surfaced in Garrett’s consciousness. The diminutive Counselor sat across the room, holding the biologist in his blue eyes, as aware as ever in ways Garrett had not yet fathomed. The larger man leaned forward, elbow on knee, hand on chin, curiosity in his gaze.

“I don’t suppose you can feel the physical sensations I associate with memories? That last one might have been a new experience for you.”

Eiri tipped his head to one side and looked briefly down into the now empty cup of tea. He furrowed his distinctively Vulcan eyebrows and looked up at Garrett again. "It is difficult to explain. I can feel the sensations that memories produce, but it is not so much your sensory perception of the moment in time but how that sensory input made you feel. Does that make any sense? Your last memory was something that caused goosebumps, it was not fear, more like... being alone... somewhere lonely. It is hard to describe or analyze those feelings. Often I do not try unless the feelings associated with the place or event are very strong." He looked into Gerard's hazel eyes hoping to not see confusion there.

"So you wouldn't feel the cold of the storm itself, but you'd know I was feeling distressed at the time. Fair enough." The biologist nodded. "And I daresay feelings often don't lend themselves to easy interpretation even if one is an empathic Vulcanoid." Clinical psychology, Garrett thought, had to be the most inexact branch of biology by far, but it made him glad to know that people like Eiri existed, willing to use their own highly specialized senses to give succor to those in need.

"Feelings manifest in so many different ways and every individual is a new challenge. What might be fear, elevated heart rate, feelings of elation, for one person, could easily be joy in another. Your observation is correct, though. I would not sense the cold of the storm, only how that cold made you feel at the time. He lifted one amused eyebrow. "Vulcanoid? An interesting term and accurate. I often struggle with my heritage, one or the other, but the combination is indeed what I am." He smiled, his eyes sweeping over Gerard slowly. "I think I am comfortable with our session. How do you feel? Do you have any questions or things you would like to discuss further?"

Garrett drained the last of his milk and plunked the empty glass on the table between himself and the Counselor, clearing his throat. “Nothing really springs to mind, so if you’ve got no further questions, neither do I, sir. I’ll come to chat with you again if I need to. Though I do feel better having a professional confirm I’m not about to start chasing my crewmates with a batlef.” He grinned. That might not have been his most interesting appointment of the week, but hell, interesting would have been bad in this case. Have to wait on figuring out his blood type, though… who knows what sort of interesting antigens he’s got waiting for an agglutination.

Eiri laughed, in spite of himself. "If you would like a blood sample I would be more then happy to volunteer one for you." He smiled at Gerard and stood. "I hope you do come back, feel free, anytime... even if there is nothing wrong. Sometimes it is best to return when things are going well. It helps us develop a working relationship, so that if anything does go wrong in the future we will not have problems communicating. I enjoyed our discussion today. Thank you for coming by." He chuckled again. "... would you like me to follow you to your lab so that you may take a blood sample?" His offer seemed sincere.

Garrett's eyes lit up at the thought of new questions, new knowledge, and the willing assistance of the Counselor to reach them. In his experience, the most interesting members of the Eukarya had typically required sedation or restraint before becoming agreeable enough to share their tissues with science. "Only if you're sure you wouldn't mind getting analyzed yourself, sir. I'm no physician, but I'd still love to have a look at your antigens and respiration and such. I'll sleep better tonight if I feed the curiosity beast."

"Of course, and that I can completely understand. I am also a scientist at heart." Eiri stood up from his seat and smiled a little. "I do not have another appointment for an hour. I think that should be enough time for you to collect whatever samples you want from me." He picked up his PADD and waited for Gerard to lead the way. "Although, I would like to ask one thing of you." He lifted his eyebrows, expressing his interest with his expression. "Will you please share your findings with me? I am immensely curious about what you will find. I can also give you a little bit of history and background, if you like. I know that my parents we concerned when I was born, because of my coloring, that I would develop problems with my sight and hearing, which is common amongst pale-skinned Vulcans. They did not dare to have another child."

"Sure, I'll share my data. I do that as a career. And it's right kind of you to share tissue, not to mention your background, so thank you, sir. I promise not to stick you too much." Garrett walked to the door, looking back to ensure the Counselor was in tow. "I've heard that bit about lighter-toned Vulcans developing auditory and optical problems. You're probably more up on the research than I, but it's caused by wacky pigment distribution in the retina and deficient copper metabolism in the hair cells of the inner ear. My best guess is that your Betazoid genes might be covering for you. We'll see." He paused for a moment, rounding a corner en route to a turbolift and glancing sidelong at Ashshy's silvery locks. "Interesting biology aside, I'm sure there's a happy story there somewhere about a Vulcan and a Betazoid finding they had enough in common to have offspring."

Eiri did indeed follow along and nodded in agreement to Gerard's assessments. "I agree that the Betazoid genes more then likely kept me from some of the more severe defects." At the mention of his parents a little bit of a flush rose in the pale skinned Counselor's cheeks. "They are amazingly happy. Well, my mother is happy. My father is staunchly Vulcan." He chuckled softly. "He is impassive much of the time. It was something he really wanted me to do as well, but I am just too sensitive. Even if I had participated in the Kolinar, it is likely that it would not have been successful. I feel too much of what everyone else feels and it took me years just to be able to master dealing with the influx of other's emotions that I'm not sure I could purge them and maintain that level of logical thinking. If that makes any sense." He smiled at Gerard and stepped onto the turbolift.

“You certainly don’t seem like a typical post-Kolinar, emotionally-neutered Vulcan. Some of the better scientists I’ve ever read or met have been Vulcans, but I think a lot of the fun in this business comes from being humbled and awed at how little we know, and the excitement when you find something new. I couldn’t be a scientist if I weren’t passionate about my work, and speaking as a human, I wager you wouldn’t be as good a counselor if you weren’t passionate about yours. The Kolinar would have taken that.”

The turbolift halted on deck 5, home of the hard sciences and their laboratories. “After you, sir,” Garrett gestured. “Lab 2, if you please.”

Eiri nodded and stepped out onto the deck ahead of Garrett. "Thank you, sir, and I completely agree with you. Although I do not claim that logic is not a good way to reach conclusions and knowledge, but as you say, passion is also important in all that we do. My mother would argue that logic and passion can exist together in harmony and my father would point out that Vulcans are passionate about logic." He chuckles softly. "The world of science is fueled by opinions and postulations Mr. Garrett..."